A Year After Disappearance, Husband Charged With Murder

Suzanne Morphew vanished on Mother's Day
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 5, 2021 4:57 PM CDT
Husband of Missing Colorado Woman Charged With Murder
This photo released by the Chaffee County Sheriff's Office shows Suzanne Morphew, 49.   (Chaffee County Sheriff's Office via AP)

The husband of a missing Colorado woman has been charged with murder, almost a year after she disappeared and he offered a $100,000 reward. Suzanne Morphew, a 49-year-old mother of two daughters, never returned from a Mother's Day bike ride last year. She was reported missing on May 10, 2020—the same date listed for offenses including first-degree murder in court documents, ABC7 reports. Authorities say husband Barry Morphew was arrested Wednesday morning and is now in Chaffee County Jail. The 53-year-old has also been charged with tampering with physical evidence and an attempt to influence a public servant.

Police have not disclosed a possible motive. No body has been found, despite extensive searches. A week after the disappearance, Barry Morphew pleaded for his wife's safe return in a tearful video posted on Facebook. "Suzanne, if anyone is out there that can hear this that has you, please, we'll do whatever it takes to bring you back," he said. "We love you. We miss you. Your girls need you." Melinda Moorman, the missing woman's sister, says she was notified of Morphew's arrest Wednesday morning. "Today, justice is beginning for my sister," she tells Fox 21. “It’s been a journey that no one ever imagines that they’ll take." (Months after the disappearance, Morphew claimed he had nothing to hide.)

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